{"id":971842,"date":"2026-07-31T18:39:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T18:39:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/971842\/"},"modified":"2026-07-31T18:39:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T18:39:17","slug":"houston-police-say-more-victims-may-exist-after-arrest-of-man-linked-to-decades-old-sexual-assaults","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/971842\/","title":{"rendered":"Houston police say more victims may exist after arrest of man linked to decades-old sexual assaults"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\"><strong>HOUSTON<\/strong> \u2013 Houston police are asking the public to come forward after investigators arrested a 62-year-old man they say is connected to multiple sexual assault cases spanning nearly two decades.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">Authorities announced Friday that Philip Cerf, 62, has been charged in two sexual assault cases. Investigators believe he may be connected to additional assaults and are asking anyone with information or who believes they may have been victimized to contact the Houston Police Department.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">\u201cThis is about getting justice for these victims of these heinous crimes and for their families,\u201d FBI Houston Special Agent in Charge Jason Hudson said during a news conference.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">According to HPD Commander Michael Menendez, detectives investigated four sexual assaults reported in north Houston between 1997 and 2016. Although the cases went unsolved for years, investigators never stopped searching for answers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">\u201cIt was not until recently, through advances in technology, that a suspect was identified,\u201d Menendez said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">In each case, survivors underwent forensic sexual assault examinations, commonly known as sexual assault kits. Evidence collected during those investigations was later linked to Cerf through advances in forensic technology, police said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">Investigators outlined several of the reported assaults:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 etvbxt font_openSans articleList\">\n<li class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Stack-vJ7SwH7U__StackBase-sc-1m5bkhd-0 evEXvX dsnUCb\">\n<p>On June 29, 1997, a woman accepted a ride from a man near West Little York Road. Police said he drove her to another location where she was sexually and physically assaulted.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Stack-vJ7SwH7U__StackBase-sc-1m5bkhd-0 evEXvX dsnUCb\">\n<p>On April 9, 2009, another woman reported she was picked up near her home before being taken to another location where she was sexually and physically assaulted.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Stack-vJ7SwH7U__StackBase-sc-1m5bkhd-0 evEXvX dsnUCb\">\n<p>On July 3, 2016, a woman walking to a gas station was approached by the suspect, taken to another location and sexually and physically assaulted.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">Police also said they are investigating a possible 1988 case that may be connected to Cerf.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">According to investigators, Cerf has worked as a truck driver and has traveled throughout the United States, leading authorities to believe there could be additional victims in other jurisdictions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">HPD Chief J. Noe Diaz urged anyone with information to come forward.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">\u201cWe believe there are other potential victims who were sexually assaulted by Philip Cerf,\u201d Diaz said. \u201cAnyone with information is encouraged to contact the Houston Police Department.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">Mayor John Whitmire praised the work of investigators, saying solving violent crimes remains one of the city\u2019s top priorities.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">\u201cI want Houstonians to know we don\u2019t rest,\u201d Whitmire said. \u201cIt\u2019s all hands on deck, around the clock, seven days a week. And we\u2019re getting results. Results to get a violent, repeat offender off the streets of Houston, where they need to be, in jail.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">The FBI said its Investigative Genetic Genealogy Team in Houston helped support the investigation and is also encouraging anyone who believes they may have encountered Cerf to contact law enforcement.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">Anyone with information related to the investigation is asked to contact the Houston Police Department.<\/p>\n<p>Copyright 2026 by KPRC Click2Houston &#8211; All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HOUSTON \u2013 Houston police are asking the public to come forward after investigators arrested a 62-year-old man they&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":971843,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5130],"tags":[5624,4219,4345,358,3187],"class_list":["post-971842","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-cold-case","tag-crime","tag-houston","tag-texas","tag-tx"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/971842","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=971842"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/971842\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/971843"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=971842"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=971842"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=971842"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}